NYC Council Hearing Exposes AI Industry’s Safety Gaps
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin led a marathon hearing on October 5, 2026, questioning executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta about AI safety. The companies failed to provide concrete answers on catastrophic risk quantification, insurance coverage, or liability for failures, drawing sharp criticism from lawmakers. While Mayor Zohran Mamdani has focused on other issues, Menin has emerged as the city’s primary AI antagonist, using the hearing to highlight the industry’s lack of accountability. This follows recent concerns over reckless AI development and a ban on student-facing generative AI in NYC schools.
